Have Yourself a Merry Christmas
by Smalls2233
Summary: It's that time of year again, Barnaby's least favourite time of year. Kotetsu's determined to make up for the lost years and make Barnaby smile again. Post Episode 25, expect spoilers for that. Tiger/Bunny pairing.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello! I'm the Tiger and Bunny fangirl who should be sleeping and studying for finals but is instead writing a fanfic. I'm not really sure where this will go, and I hope I stay in character. I don't write fanfics much so please don't kill me if it's bad ;A;. Also, this is post!Episode 25, so expect some spoiler-y things coming from it. Don't want spoilers, I'd suggest skipping this story until you watched all of T&B. Even if you haven't, watch all of it dammit!

Christmas had always been Barnaby's least favourite time of year. Too many painful memories surfaced up at that time of the year. However, something changed when he met Kotetsu, the foolish older man had always tried to make him smile. Whether it was his birthday or any other silly day of the year, Kotetsu had always gone out of his way to make Barnaby smile.

Yet here that damned time was again, and Kotetsu was insisting on spending the holidays together. "Come on, Bunny, you'll meet my family. I for one know Kaede's been begging to see more of you, and I don't think Mom would mind meeting my partner." Kotetsu insisted, poking Barnaby on his side. And lover, he silently added in his mind, but Mom doesn't need to know that, nor Kaede. She'd probably kill me for taking Barnaby away from her. Yes, the two of them had finally gotten together, the experience with Maverick had made both of them realize what they meant to each other.

Barnaby let out a groan, "I told you, my name's not Bunny, it's Barnaby!" Not that it bothered him anymore, he actually kind of liked the nickname. Not like he'd tell Kotetsu that though! The saying was more automatic then anything, something he picked up over two years ago.

The two men had shared the same apartment ever since they rejoined the hero business again. Both after leaving Sternbild, came back, and deciding that just sharing an apartment would be easier for both of them. They were partners after all, and it would also mean less time spent on waiting for the other to arrive at the scene. He would never admit the true reason to anyone's face other than Kotetsu's. It was simply too embarrassing for the pale blonde man. Now if Kotetsu brought it up, that was a different story. He liked to point out the relationship between him and Barnaby.

"You didn't answer if you wanted to spend Christmas with my family, Bunny." Kotetsu said, still using the silly nickname.

"What's the point? I share the apartment with you, not to mention the fact that I hate the stupid holiday." Barnaby huffed. It wasn't that he was angry with the older man, it was just the holiday season brought out the worst in him. Kotetsu was just the unlucky man who had to deal with it.

Kotetsu just raised an eyebrow. He wouldn't rest until he made Barnaby smile. It was a battle of stubbornness, Kotetsu wanting Barnaby to spend the holidays with his family. Barnaby determined to curl up into a little ball and ignore the world. It was a battle Kotetsu was determined to win. "You share an apartment with me, yes. However, you don't share an apartment with my family, and they'd love to meet you." Well, Kaede would love to see him again. For the year he lived with his family, Kaede chattered nonstop about how cool and awesome Barnaby was. Kotetsu let out a bemused grin at the memory of his darling daughter.

"I've met your daughter already, I don't think your mom could handle both of us in the house. I'm not going." Barnaby growled.

"What, so you're going to curl up into a little ball and ignore the rest of the world? Yes, I understand your parents died on Christmas Eve. Yes, I feel horrible about that. But do you really think your parents would want you to be unhappy every Christmas Eve? When Tomoe died, all she asked was for me to be happy and to continue being a hero. Don't you think your parents want you to be happy?" Kotetsu threw his hands up in the air in an exasperated manner. Really, he loved his Bunny, but he always found a way to get under his skin.

Barnaby let out a sigh, "Fine, I will spend the goddamned holidays with your family, Old Man." He huffed and crossed his arms. Really, the old man knew how to push all of his buttons and play him like a puppet to get him to do anything.


	2. Chapter 2

Kotetsu clapped his hands, overjoyed that he managed to convince Barnaby to visit his family for Christmas. He gave his boyfriend a peck on the cheek and said. "Now, I'm not sure how Kaede will be able to handle the relationship between the two of us, not to mention my mother. So can we just attempt to hide it just a little from my family?" Kotetsu asked nervously. "You know how Kaede has that large crush on you, and Mom, well I'm just not sure how she'd feel about her son dating another man."

Barnaby raised an eyebrow, "For someone who enjoys pointing out our relationship so much, you seem awfully bashful when it comes to pointing it out to to your own family." He laughed softly at the other man's expense. Bad mood forgotten as Kotetsu always managed to do to him. It was like the asian man instead of losing his powers, gained another NEXT ability. The one to cheer him up.

"It's family though, I don't want to see the look in my darling Kaede's eyes when I tell her that I'm dating her idol." Kotetsu whined. "Anyway, I should probably phone mom up and tell her we're going to be at the family place for the holidays. Do you want to use the guest room or just share one with me?" Kotetsu asked, flying about in an attempt to find his cellphone. "Where did I leave the stupid thing?" He muttered quietly to himself.

"Old man, your eyes are worse than mine. Catch." Barnaby joked, tossing his phone to the older man. "Don't break my phone though, if you do you'll pay the bill."

Kotetsu looked at Barnaby with faked hurt in his eyes. "Do you really think that lowly of me, Bunny? It hurts my old heart." He said, taking Barnaby's phone and dialing his mom's number into it.

"Hey Mom, it's me." Kotetsu said into the phone. "I'm just calling to tell you that Barnaby... Yes my partner... and I are coming to the house for Christmas. Don't tell Kaede, I want her to be surprised. When will we come?" He looked at Barnaby expectantly. When Barnaby shrugged Kotetsu asked. "When do you want us over? Tomorrow?" He looked at Barnaby again and when the blonde man nodded he said. "Barnaby's cool with that, are you? Good, we'll see you tomorrow. Love you, Mom." Kotetsu said, hanging up the phone.

Barnaby looked at Kotetsu with a bemused expression. "We'll be there for how long is it until Christmas?" He counted the days in his head. "Two weeks? Are you sure your family won't be sick of us by then?" He asked.

Kotetsu just grinned, excited to see his family again. Ever since his daughter said he was cool his days have been great. He still felt pain in his side from getting shot, but everything was so much better. "I'm sure they won't be sick of us, now us being able to keep us a secret for them may be a bit hard. Didn't really think that part through." He began to stroke his kitten shaped beards.

"Old Man, you're never good at planning things though." Barnaby laughed, removing the older hero's hand from his beard and giving it a quick kiss to show he wasn't trying to be mean.''

"Yeah yeah, now get packing, Bunny. Try not to shove every hair product you own into the suitcase, that would way twenty pounds." Kotetsu teased. It was a valid tease though, Barnaby spent more time in the bathroom in the morning then Kotetsu spent in his entire day.

"As long as you don't bring all of the mayonnaise we own." Barnaby teased back, removing the hand from his lips in favour for a much better prize, Kotetsu's mouth.

The two kissed until they had to part for breath. "I'm going to miss that for the next two weeks." Kotetsu sighed, he knew they'd be able to kiss each other in private, but the gestures the older man much preferred would have to stay within the apartment.

Barnaby saw the look in his partner's eyes and said, "Old Man, if we do what you're thinking of now, we'll be late tomorrow." It was true, the duo tended to fall asleep in each other's arms after sex. Barnaby was determined to not let Kotetsu be late for something for once. Not that it was an easy battle, he seemed to find a way to be late for anything. The past year of living with him made Barnaby realise that fact more than anything.

Kotetsu let out a sigh, "So not only two weeks without kissing. But too weeks without sex as well. Oh well, we'll find a way to survive, somehow."

"You decided the date, Kotetsu." Barnaby grinned, giving his partner a kiss to the cheek. The rough scratch of his partner's beard had become natural to him.

It had surprised Kotetsu at first how touchy Barnaby could be. He loved physical contact, whether it was hugs, kisses, or even simply holding hands. Perhaps it was because of such a scarred life the younger man had led that made him need to reassure himself that there was someone there. Kotetsu didn't mind, in fact he was much of the same way.

After losing his wife, Tomoe, Kotetsu never thought he could love again. He was terrified of losing someone he loved again, he didn't think his old heart could stand it if someone else he loved passed away. One death was bad enough, but to lose his Bunny? That was unthinkable. It was impossible.

"I guess we'll find a way to deal with it, eh Bunny?" Kotetsu said, suddenly brightening up. "We need to pack though, Kaede's going to be thrilled when she sees her Papa and his partner. Especially since you're Barnaby. Did I ever tell you how much she loves you?" Kotetsu started to blabber on about his little girl. He was so proud of her.

Barnaby actually found it completely adorable, so much so that he began to giggle softly.

"Bunny? Is something wrong?" Kotetsu asked, thinking the other man lost his mine. Barnaby never giggled.

"Nothing's wrong, it's just so cute how much you care for your daughter. I wonder if my parents cared that much for me." With the thought of his parents, Barnaby's mood plummeted once more.

"There's something wrong now though, I can tell by the look on your face." Kotetsu said, looking concernedly at Barnaby. "It's the thought of your parents isn't it?" He asked gripping Barnaby's hand. His parental side kicked in and he grabbed his partner into a tight hand, hand rubbing circles on Barnaby's back.

Barnaby choked back a sob. "Even though I'm not living for revenge anymore, it still hurts so badly. I can't even tell what memory is real or what isn't. What if none of the memories I had of my parents were real? Why is it still so damn hard for me to be happy?" Barnaby began to cry at full force, sobs wracking his body. Loud, pitiful, gasping sobs.

Kotetsu just held the man harder. "It's alright, Bunny, you have me now. It will be alright, it will all be alright." He whispered into his partner's ear. "Just sleep, I'll pack for you and I'll call Lloyds to tell him we're leaving tomorrow. I'll take care of everything." Kotetsu wasn't sure what he meant by everything. Whether it was their plans, or his sobbing partner, or both.

He picked Barnaby up princess style, much like how the younger man would carry him and took his partner to the bedroom. He sat him down on the bed and pulled the covers over the pitiful form. He removed Barnaby's glasses that had begun to fog over from the tears and sat them on the nightstand.

After he took care of Barnaby, he tapped on his call bracelet. "Lloyds? It's me, look Bunny and I are gonna take. The next two weeks or so off. Yes I need to bring him with me. We're visiting family, my family, but I still will count them as his family." Kotetsu watched his boss look at the calendar with a dismayed look. "We do have plenty of vacation worked up. You'll let us? Thanks!" Kotetsu grinned as he shut off the call. Now all that was left was the packing.

Kotetsu dug around the large walk in closet for a suitcase. He and Barnaby seldom traveled, so the suitcases were far in the back of the closet, covered with a fine layer of dust. He grabbed the two largest ones he could find and pondered what to bring with the two of them.

Barnaby was much more adept at choosing clothes for things. Kotetsu always had similar clothes so he never had to worry about what to wear. Barnaby on the other hand was a completely different story. The only similarity between his clothes was red, tight black t-shirts, and lots of buttons. Kotetsu had tried to break him of his button habit before, but to no avail. The pale man still had obscene amounts of buttons on his clothes.

Kotetsu sighed and just grabbed an armful of Barnaby's clothes, folding them into the suitcase. He thought it would be enough clothes for the next two weeks, he'd just have Barnaby check it the next day. He wasn't planning on letting the blonde out of bed for the rest of the night.

Bed was sounding pretty good to Kotetsu at that point. So after grabbing some of his own clothes and shoving them into a green suitcase, he flopped down onto the bed. He landed next to the sleeping Barnaby who shivered with nightmares. He wrapped an arm around his partner and fell asleep just like that.


	3. Chapter 3

Kotetsu woke up the next morning to the sound of a suitcase opening and closing.

"Really, Kotetsu. Did you just grab whatever was in sight for me?" Barnaby asked, holding up a suit. "I'm aware that I have plenty of clothes, but a suit. Really?" He sighed. He wasn't really mad at the older man, he enjoyed giving a hard time though. But really now, he could have put a little more thought as to what to pack.

Kotetsu grinned sheepishly, rubbing his chin. "Well, you just have so many clothes so I wasn't sure what to pack for you. I just grabbed whatever thinking there'd be something you'd wear in there."

Barnaby raised an eyebrow at the older man. With a sigh he began to unpack what was packed for him, setting the clothes into two piles. Putting the first pile back into the red suitcase, he grabbed the second pile and went back into the large closet. He returned with more clothes and set them into the suitcase. "Do I need to check what you packed for yourself too, Old Man?" He asked. Without waiting for an answer, he opened Kotetsu's suitcase and looked at the clothes, beginning to make two piles of the asian's clothing as well. "I'm guessing you took five minutes to pack for both me and you." Barnaby called as he once again walked into the large closet and got different clothing.

"Ten minutes!" Kotetsu called back, "Half of those may have been packing. Still more than five minutes!"

Barnaby let out a soft laugh at Kotetsu's expense. "Packing takes longer then ten minutes. You need to prepare for weather, think of social events, and twenty other things. You don't just grab an armful of clothing and call it done."

"And that is exactly why I'll let you do the packing from now on, Bunny." Kotetsu said, on his face the sheepish grin still laid.

Barnaby just looked over his shoulder at the older man with an amused look on his face. He turned back to the clothes and switched clothes on hangers with the clothes he took out of Kotetsu's suitcase. When he was pleased with what he got to pack, he left the closet and folded the clothes neatly into the suitcase.

When that was all done, Kotetsu leapt out of the bed and removed his shirt. Walking into the closet he grabbed his favourite green dress shirt, tie, vest, pants, and shoes. "I'm getting a shower, Bunny, when I'm done with mine we can go as it looks like you finished your's already." He said, motioning to the blonde's already-curling wet hair. With a wave, he walked off whistling softly.

Kotetsu finally came out of the shower ten minutes later, towelling his long dark brown hair. He threw the towel into a random corner in the room as he began to button up his shirt. A long scar ran down his chest, a still painful memory of the fight from the previous year. Kotetsu always had to be careful not to aggravate it, lest the pain flare up, sometimes painful enough to bring tears in his eyes. He had the physical scar and Barnaby had the mental. The blonde still had nightmare that he would wake up screaming from. Nightmares both of Maverick and of nearly killing Kotetsu. It was unlikely that either of the two would fully get over the scars for their entire lives.

Kotetsu finished buttoning up his shirt and Barnaby tossed the older hero a pair of socks which he proceeded to slip on, shoes following. "Bunny, are you ready to go?" He asked.

"Completely. How are we going to get there?" Barnaby asked back.

"Train to Oriental Town, a ride from Muramasa to the house." Kotetsu replied, standing up and grabbing the green suitcase. He made shooing motions to his partner. "I'm old, yes, I have a scar, yes. Honestly though Bunny, I can carry a single suitcase. My mom is still doing all the gardening and she's sixty-five!" He waited for Barnaby to grab his own suitcase and when the younger man got it and caught up to him, began walking.

When the two left the apartment complex, they stood at the curb and hailed a taxi. They told the cabby the address of the train station and took the cab to the station. They made polite conversation with the star struck cabby who couldn't believe he was driving the former King of Heroes to a train station. He didn't recognize Kotetsu though, despite the fact that the only difference from usual was the lack of a mask. He even wore the same clothes. Who else would've had his awesome clothes? People seemed to be dull in that sense, unable to tell who someone was with the slightest difference.

Finally the star struck cabby dropped the two men off for a fee. Thanking him, Barnaby paid before Kotetsu could even get his wallet out and the two went to buy two tickets for the train ride. After buying the ticket, the two men sat down on a bench in front of where the train would come and relaxed. Kotetsu's arm rested on Barnaby's shoulder and the man tilted his hat down to have a quick nap as they waited for the train to arrive.

When the train arrived, Barnaby gently shook Kotetsu awake. The older man grumbled for a few moments before realizing the train had arrived. Before Kotetsu could grab his suitcase, Barnaby grabbed the two suitcases and they hopped onto the train.


End file.
